“Hopefully, we can keep this momentum going into the World Cup” - Rahul Dravid pleased with India’s performance ahead of mega event

Team India head coach Rahul Dravid is pleased with the team’s performance heading into the 2023 World Cup at home. Asserting that the Men in Blue have ticked a lot of boxes, particularly with key players performing on their comebacks from injury, he hoped that the Men in Blue could take the momentum into the World Cup.

India beat Australia by a 2-1 margin in the recently concluded three-match ODI series. While the hosts lost the final match, Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav found much-needed form ahead of the World Cup. KL Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah also impressed in the Asia Cup as well as against Australia.

At a post-match press conference following the Rajkot ODI, Dravid reflected on the positives for Team India heading into the World Cup.

“It’s been great that Jassi [Bumrah] has been able to play a couple of games, bowl his quota of 10 overs. [Mohammed] Siraj suffering from a little bit of a bug but he’s got back and has been able to bowl today [Wednesday]. It was really nice to see the way [Ravichandran] Ashwin bowled in the first two games," he said.

“KL as well, he’s coming up after almost six-seven months. Shreyas as well, a couple of really good knocks in the last two games. A lot of tick marks from that perspective. Hopefully, we can keep this momentum going into the World Cup,” the head coach added.

Bumrah made his international comeback during the tour of Ireland, while Rahul and Shreyas returned to action during the Asia Cup.

Shreyas suffered back spasms again during the tournament but proved his fitness in the home series against Australia.

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“There's been a lot of intensity” - Dravid on the significance of the series against Australia

While some critics have questioned the logic of playing a series so close to the World Cup, Dravid has a differing view. According to him, though Team India will play two warm-up matches, it won’t match up to the intensity of a series against Australia.

“For people like Jassi [Jasprit Bumrah], Shreyas, KL, Ashwin as well, for all these guys, game time was really important. The fact that they have been able to get that against a really good, competitive side, we are much better off for it," he said.

"In the warm-up games, people play 15 versus 15. It’s tough to sometimes get that level of intensity in those games. In these three games, in some hot conditions, there’s been a lot of intensity as well,” Dravid concluded.

India will play two warm-up matches ahead of the World Cup. The first will be against England in Guwahati on September 30 and the second against the Netherlands in Thiruvananthapuram on October 3.